


The Farm Hand

by Palefire73



Series: Prisoners. The Chronicles of Loki and Erika [14]
Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel
Genre: Companionship, F/M, Love, Prisoners, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 13:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11336079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: Hans arrives to apply for the post of Farm Hand and seems a very nice person.But then he says something which shocks Erika.





	The Farm Hand

When Erika drew back the thick curtains at her windows, it was to greet a very crisp winter morning. From the look of things, they had experienced their first overnight frost of the season and the panes of glass were decorated with patterns of finely interwoven crystals of ice. They seemed to have started at the corners and looked as if they had grown into amazing shapes and patterns, almost like the scales of a fish, or the rings in the trunk of a tree. Sparkling Fleur de Lys had spread across in decorative swathes and Erika marvelled at the wonder of nature. Beyond these fine opaque frosty patterns on the glass, she could see the vague shapes of the landscape and the beautiful dawn light starting to illuminate the countryside. Feeling a little chilly now that she was no longer cocooned in her warm bed, she slipped on a pair of moccasins lined with sheep’s wool, and pulled her house robe on over her pyjamas. Knotting the belt, she emerged onto the landing only to see Loki already dressed and standing looking out of the large central window at the picturesque vista. She went to stand beside him and he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her gently next to him.

 

“Good morning,” He said as she leaned against his side and he rubbed her arm lovingly.

“Good morning, Loki. Is it not just glorious today?

“It is indeed looking as if we will be in for a beautiful day today. Just right for seeing this boy about a job helping about the place. We would not want to put him off by having him come here in bad weather! Loki chuckled and Erika moved around to face him.

“How about a kiss, handsome?” She smiled and Loki happily obliged, pulling her into a warm embrace as they shared a loving kiss. Nothing arousing; simply an exchange of affection for each other in a physical way which they both delighted in, especially now that Erika had cleared the air about how she felt about their relationship. The kiss was wonderful to experience with him; it was fun and light-hearted and a genuinely happy greeting for the morning. As their lips parted and she opened her eyes, she saw that Loki’s face mirrored her own smile and she hugged him tightly, “I love you, Loki.” She said, and warmth spread through her as he answered without pause: “I love you too, my Erika.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sometime later on that morning, after Erika had been treated to a sumptuous breakfast, the sound of hooves came from the track leading to the farm. In addition to the very large kitchen, the house had a few other rooms downstairs and Erika was in the front parlour going through a small ledger she had decided to keep a track of their sales in. She looked up and peered through the window, which overlooked the side garden, to see the back end of a horse disappearing in the direction of the front gate. A moment later she heard voices as Loki greeted the visitor and she put the ledger away in a beautifully carved wooden bureau before smoothing down her skirts and checking her hair in a mirror. She went through to open the front door and smiled a welcome as Loki led someone up the steps and onto the veranda, whereupon Erika was pleasantly surprised at the man’s greeting of sweeping off his hat and bowing with a flourish. He straightened up and with a twinkle in his eye he grasped her hand and raised it to his lips for a kiss.

 

“And you must be the lady of the house!” He said cheerily, “If I may introduce myself, I am Hans Jarlson, at your service!” Stepping back he smiled at Loki, “Sir, you are a very lucky man! What a beautiful wife you have, and what a wonderful home.”

“Oh! Er, I’m… I’m not…” Erika stuttered, suddenly a little flabbergasted, “I, er…”

“We are not married, Mr Jarlson,” said Loki amiably, “May I introduce Miss Erika Mikkelsdottr… my companion and dearest friend.”

“Oh, I do apologise!” Laughed Hans, “There I go again with my boot in my big mouth! Well, Miss Erika, it is a pleasure to meet you, and you, too, er…”

“You may call me Loki. I have no titles any longer and I am well rid of them.” Loki’s voice grew hard with these words for just the shortest of moments, but then he smiled and the tension passed. “Let us take some tea to warm you up after your journey. I will stable your horse and then we can take a tour of the farm yard.” He patted Hans’ back and indicated he should follow Erika into the house. Their visitor stared around as he was taken through to the back of the house and into the large kitchen and he nodded appreciatively.

“My thanks to you,” He said as he was served a hot cup of tea and he grinned as he took a ginger biscuit to enjoy with it.

“Let us talk a little about you, Hans, and why you have come to offer your services to us.” Said Loki as they all sat down in some easy chairs near the sofa, “I would like to know your background and anything you think will be of benefit to us here on the farm.”

“Of course!” Smiled Hans and he cradled his cup of tea in his hands as he began to tell them just who he was. “I have just returned from travelling,” he began, “I was lucky enough to be able to do some part time work while I was still doing my studies and I saved enough to be able to set off on my horse and go wherever he might take me. I have been away from my home for about three months and I only returned two weeks ago. Then I got word the other day that someone was looking for help on a local farm and I was in need of a job, so here I am. As for what I can bring to the role, I do believe I have skills you will find useful.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Erika sipped at her tea as she listened to Hans describe who he was and where he had come from. He was a very animated talker and it was not long before he had put his cup of tea down and was using his hands to gesticulate as he spoke. He was a pleasant enough man; twenty-six years old, of a tall and quite muscular build, with sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes. His complexion hinted that he would tan in the summer months and his smile was wide and generous. It appeared that he had spent a very interesting autumn touring some of the outlying towns and villages of the realm and had more or less worked his way along, easily befriending people and being given bed and board in return for helping out – whether on a farm, in a tavern, or perhaps as a general labourer in a large estate. His manner was one of an easy-going yet quite intelligent young man, keen to get on in life and perhaps to eventually make something of himself. He did not say much about his upbringing, only to briefly mention parents and four siblings, but he asked many questions about the farm and what it was he would be expected to do.

 

But then he said something while glancing her way that completely threw her. Loki had mentioned that there was a lot of woodland belonging to the property and that he was keen to get to grips with some of it over the winter while the growth had slowed down. He was talking about good management being the key to healthy and productive woodlands and how he wanted to ensure the local wildlife had a resource they would be able to use, when Hans nodded and added eagerly:

 

“Of course. I grew up around here and I remember when there was a huge thunderstorm one night – Thor was having fun, I can assure you – and a giant yew tree got struck, causing it to almost explode!” He laughed as the memory came back to him, “I was only about eight years old and we lads ran up to the woods to see it of course. It had made a mighty bang and bits of it were on fire and the needles were glowing – Móðir would have skinned us alive if she had caught us anywhere near – and we could see a gaping hole in the trunk. It was amazing to us as you can imagine…” Loki smiled at him as he recounted the tale, enjoying hearing about childhood capers from someone, “Anyway, the point to my story is this: I know a lot of the woods around here like the back of my hand and the yew is still there. It is flourishing and there is new growth.” His dark brown eyes flickered over to Erika for just the tiniest instant, “It is an amazing specimen, with many treasures to be found secreted within its domain.” As Erika’s stomach fell and she focussed on him a little more, his eyes moved on to the decorative beams which the house was built from and she was left staring at him. “This house is quite old, I’ll warrant,” He continued, “Those huge timbers look well seasoned and the carvings are very much in the style of a couple of centuries ago. There are buildings of a similar age in the town…”

 

Hans’ words became muffled as Erika felt her quickened heartbeat in her ears. _Did he know about the camera in the tree? Was it just a coincidence?_ She vaguely saw the two men laugh at something he had said and it was Loki’s voice that got through the fog and brought her back. “I’m sorry,” She said, “I was distracted. What did you say?”

“I asked if you would like to accompany us on a tour of the buildings… is everything alright?” Loki’s voice was concerned and he reached out a hand to touch hers, “Erika?”

“Yes! Yes, everything is just perfect!” She replied, trying not to look at Hans for too long, even though he was not doing her the same courtesy. His eyes rested on her for three heartbeats longer than was polite and she grew rather warm at his scrutiny. “You men go off together and talk about fences and hammers… and I will make us some lunch for when you get back.” She stood up from the table rather abruptly and began to clear the cups from the table. Loki and Hans rose too and Loki showed him to the front door before mentioning that he had forgotten something. The young man offered to wait out on the veranda and Loki came back into the house and straight back to Erika; she had not covered up her discomfort adequately and he wanted to know what was wrong. He pulled the dishcloth from her hands and turned her towards him.

“Erika…?”

“It is nothing, Loki, I promise!” She smiled and squeezed one of his hands, “Go out and show Hans round the farm. I think he is quite nice. What do you think?”

 

Loki regarded her for a few long moments, his green eyes flickering between hers as he tried to read her expression, but then he seemed to relent and he nodded, “Very well, Erika. As long as you are alright?”

“I am, honestly, Loki.”

“Well, I think Hans sounds just what we’re looking for. His experience and his enthusiasm are encouraging and as you say… he seems ‘nice’.” His grip on her arms tightened a little as he pulled her towards him and leaned in to kiss her softly. “We will be back at noon.” He said, and giving her a wide smile he left the house to take Hans on his tour.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She could not help it; Hans’ words had piqued her curiosity far too much and it was like a burning itch deep inside her mind. The noise of the stable doors clanging and then of hooves in the yard told her that Loki was showing Hans all the buildings nearest to the main house – and there were quite a few, some of them having fallen into disuse and disrepair. She peered through one of the windows and then glanced at the old timepiece; she should have an hour at the very least. She quickly went into the small utility room and picked out a warm jacket to wear and then left by the side door to go up to the lane. Hurrying along, she soon reached the border stone and ducked straight into the woods to find the Redbarks. The desire to see if there was anything different about the Yew drove her on and when she got there, she pushed impatiently through the dense growth to get to the centre and find the hole in the trunk. Twigs snatched at her jacket and at her hair and she had to disentangle herself a couple of times before managing to lean through to find the bird’s nest and hole in the bark. Her fingers were unsteady as she reached out and pressed the small button just inside the hole, and her heart began to race as the small door swung open to reveal…

 

There was nothing there.

 

The inside of the small recess was empty, except for the tiny camera and the charcoal stick. There was nothing else: no envelope, no parcel. Nothing. A small sob escaped Erika’s lips as she hung her head in disappointment. _What had she expected?_ A letter? A gift of some kind? Something to let her know that The Vision had seen her message? _Was he even monitoring this camera?_ The young Asgardian bit back bitter tears as she realised that she needed to get a grip of herself. _This was no game. She had no ‘pen-friend’!_ She was in a prison designed to be humane to its inmates and nothing else, and the quicker she got used to it, the better.

 

Erika wiped away a stray tear with the back of her hand and reached out to close the moss-covered door so that it would camouflage the recess again, but then she stopped. There _was_ something different! Opening the door just a bit wider, she looked at the lines which were decorating the inside of it and knew they were not the same as the ones she had put there the day before. Thinking back to her lessons, she slowly managed to decode them and then she did it again to be sure of what it said. There could be no doubt about who the answer was from, only how it had got there – but she was quite sure now that Hans was the one who had drawn them. Which meant that he was able to communicate with The Vision somehow – or that The Vision was able to make him say or do certain things… Erika wiped away the lines for the next time a message was to be left and closed the small door again before setting off back home; she was in a complete mess and needed to tidy herself up before Loki and Hans came back or she would be hard-pressed to explain it. Yet Erika was in a complete day dream as she walked back to the farm house… and all over one little word which had been coded in charcoal lines in a secret compartment in a giant old Yew tree:

 

Værsågod*

 

*Norwegian idiom: equivalent of “you’re welcome”, literally: “be so kind”

**Author's Note:**

> So it seems that Erika is not strictly on her own after all. However, is it a good thing to be able to communicate with the outside like this? Would it not be better for her if she simply tried to forget the real Nine?


End file.
